Distinguished Speakers at SAYPM 2009

Day 1 – Communal Harmony and Peace

Mr. Asgar Ali Engineer

Topic: The beginning of ‘Terrorism’ and its roots in South Asia

Progressive, philosophical and theological in his approach, Asghar Ali Engineer is one of the most courageous and enlightened commentators on communal affairs in the country. Internationally he is known for his work on liberation theology in Islam, the leader of the Progressive Dawoodi Bohra movement, and his work on communalism and communal and ethnic violence in India and South East Asia. In 1993, he founded, Center for Study of Society and Secularism to promote communal harmony. He has authored over 50 books and was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 2004 for his commitment to promote values of co-existence and tolerance.

Ms. Subhashini Ali

Topic: Gender bane: Women in Communal Conflicts & civilians as agents of peace

Currently a member of the Central Committee of the CPI (M), Ms Subhasini Ali is also the President of the All India Democratic Women's Association. She has been an influential political figure, particularly in Kanpur and represented the city in the 1991 Lok Sabha elections. Ms Ali also bears strong ties with the film fraternity in India. She was formerly married to filmmaker Muzzafar Ali and is the mother of Shaad Ali, director of popular Hindi movies like Saathiya and Bunty aur Babli. Ms Ali has also starred in popular Hindi film Asoka in 2001, followed by an English feature, The Guru 2002 and in Amu in 2005, alongside her fellow party member, Brinda Karat.

Ms Ali is thedaughter of illustrious freedom fighters, Colonel Prem Sehgal and Captain Lakshmi Sehgal, who were a part of the Indian National Army.

Mr. Romesh Bhandari

Topic: Role of the government in checking and resolving communal conflicts

A Bureaucrat from the lndian Foreign Service, Mr Romesh Bhandari has a long and illustrious career to his credit. He was first posted as Vice Consul of India at the India Consulate in New York. Thereon, he took over the office of Defence Minister in tire Cabinet of Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru.

He was appointed as Minister in the Indian Embassy at Moscow from 1970-1971. Following this, he was appointed as the Ambassador to Thailand till ’74 and to Iraq from ‘74 to ‘76.

Mr Bhandari was appointed Foreign Secretary in February 1985. Mr Bhandari made noteworthy contribution in the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi vision of a non-violent world, and the guidelines of India's foreign policy as formulated by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru.

He has represented India in Major International Conferences particularly of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Common-wealth.

Mr Bhandari was appointed Governor of Tripura in 1993 and Governor of Goa in 1995. Following these, he took over as Governor of Uttar Pradesh in 1996.

Mr. Bhandari is deeply interested in Art and Culture and is a keen Golfer.

Ms. Nandini Sardesai

Topic: Role of Media in fostering peace and harmony in society

A sociologist, writer, Nandini Sardesai is and a social activist. A member of the Indian Censor Board she is also visiting faculty at Jaihind College, Kishinchand Chellaram College and Sophia College in Mumbai. She is the wife of late cricketer Dilip Sardesai and CNN-IBN’s Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai’s mother.

Dr. Nawal K Paswan

Topic: Overview of the South Asian Region (PESTEL)

Dr. Nawal Paswan joined Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU) in Delhi as an Assistant Professor in Central Asian Studies in 2007. He worked as a Research Associate from 2005 to 2007 at South Asian Studies at JNU itself.

Dr Paswan has done his M.A. in Economics and International Relations and Ph.D. from JNU. During 1996-2004, he has worked in various capacities at the Centre for Policy Research. He specializes in development economics and the economies of South and Central Asia.

Dr. Paswan has also worked as Consultant Economist.

Day 2 – Youth Affairs and Politics

Ms. Teesta Setalvad

Topic: Youth as a catalyst for change: an Overview

In 2007, she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India for her role in "Public Affairs in Maharashatra".

Teesta heads the Mumbai based NGO Citizens for Peace and Justice(CPJ). Ms Setalvad is also the founder of the Women and Media Committee, which seeks to bring together working women journalists to raise job-related concerns and awareness of gender-sensitivity in writing and reporting on issues concerning women.She is also the founder of Journalists Against Communalism.

Apart from the journalistic tasks Ms Setalvad leads the project “Khoj: Education for A pluralistic India”. She is General Secretary of People's Union for Human Rights” (PUHR).

She is also the member of the Pakistan India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy. Ms Setalvad is also the co-editor of Communalism Combat magazine, along with husband Javed Anand.

Mr. Vijay Pamarathi

Topic: Post-campaign analysis of Jaago Re; how did it impact the youth and take-aways from it

Mr Vijay Pamarthi is one of the driving forces behind the Bengaluru based NGO “Janaagraha” which seeks at empowering the youth with activities related to them.

The Jaago re campaign : a target of one billion votes, is one of his most acclaimed campaigns which had made a deep mark in the minds of the youth and spread awareness about voting like no other effort has.

Mr. Santosh Shah

Topic: Youth and New Media with special reference to Social Networking Sites

Mr Santosh Shah is the anchor & director of POWER TALKS on Image Channel & SCOLA TV. He is also the President, Today's Youth Asia (TYA) and a panelist at the United Nations Youth Advisory Panel (UNYAP). He is also the recipient of the title ‘Youth Ambassador for Peace’.

Mr. Dushyant Singh

Topic: Tourism in India with respects to south east Asia with focus in regards to tourism and its economic aspects to uplift the economy.

Mr Dushyant Singh was recently re-elected to the 15th Lok Sabha on a BJP ticket from Rajasthan. Previously, Mr Singh was a member of parliament in the 14th Lok Sabha as well.

Son of politician Vasundhra Raje, he wants to help India progress into a developed nation and improve the standard and quality of life of its people starting in the State of Rajasthan.

Mr Singh is an alumnus of St. Stephen`s College, Delhi and Johnson and Wales University, USA. He has also studies at IHTTI School of Management in Switzerland.

Mr. Sudheen Kulkarni

Topic: Media as a platform for the youth to voice their opinion; the phenomenon of Citizen Journalist and how the youth can make use of it

A close aide of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani for almost 13 years, Mr Sudheendra Kulkarni quit the BJP recently over ‘ideological differences. He began his political activism as a Communist, worked in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) during Vajpayee's time and served as his speech writer, media adviser and political aide.

Mr Kulkarni, an IIT graduate and a columnist was national secretary of BJP when Advani was the party president. However, he resigned in 2005 in the wake the controversial statement made by Advani in Pakistan, where he described Mohammad Ali Jinnah as "secular". That speech of Advani was reportedly written by Kulkarni. He had served as director and later as an Officer on Special Duty in the PMO under Vajpayee.

Ms. Priyanka Khanna

Topic: Youth to realize Millennium Development Goals(MDG); how to mobilize the youth for the same

National Information Officer at the UNDP.

Day 3: Environment Sustainability & Energy Efficiency

Mr. Chintamani Mahapatra

Topic: US-South Asia Relations

Currently Mr Chintamani Mahapatra is the Chairman of the Centre for Canada, US & Latin American Studies and Professor at the School of International Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

A Fulbright Scholar at the University of Delaware in USA, Mr Mahapatra is also a Commonwealth Scholar at the University of London, Foreign Policy Fellow at University of Maryland in USA, Salzburg Seminar Fellow in Austria and a Visiting Fellow at the Australian Defence Studies Centre, Canberra.

He frequently lectures at Society for International Law and Diplomacy, National Defence College, Army War College, College of Naval Warfare, and various Academic Staff Colleges in India.

Mr Mahapatra has made several academic publications in India and abroad, authored three books, co-edited one, contributed chapters to above twenty edited volumes and published above fifty articles in reputed national and international journals.

Dr. Mahendra Lama

Topic: Energy crisis in South Asia

Dr Mahendra Lama is the first Vice Chancellor of the newly established Central University of Sikkim in India. At the age of 46, he is the youngest Vice Chancellor of a National University in India.

Previously, he was a Professor of South Asian Economies and the Chairman of the Centre for South, Central, South East Asia and South West Pacific Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. He also served as the Chief Economic Adviser to the Chief Minister of Sikkim with a Cabinet Minister rank for seven years since 2002.

Central to his intellectual pursuits is development and cooperation in South and South East Asia. He was nominated by the Government of India in the Independent Expert Group set up by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in 1997.

Besides authoring and editing 15 books, he has extensively worked on the issues of human security, migration, refugees, trade, investment and energy cooperation in South Asia and has produced very widely acclaimed reports and studies

He was the prestigious Asia Leadership Fellow in Japan in 2001 and Ford Foundation Fellow in the USA in 1997.

Mr Lama wrote the first Human Development Report of Sikkim in 2001 and first Economic Survey of Sikkim in 2007.

He regularly writes for prominent national dailies in India and Nepal and is also frequently interviewed by the top TV and radio channels.

Mr. Rachit Malhotra

Topic: Alternative Energy Sources for South Asia

Mr Malhotra is from Bureau of Energy Efficiency(BEE).